Trump 'seriously' considering ending birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump said that a situation "where you have a baby on our land" by simply "walking over the border," and that baby automatically gets granted a US citizenship is "frankly ridiculous." He also added that he and his administration want to change it and "are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously."

It was also one of his original promises from the 2016 presidential campaign. And it seems that he and his team are dedicated to keeping it. President Trump said many times, that he plans to sign an executive order to enact said change. There is one "minor" issue though – many lawmakers and experts say that this would be illegal and unconstitutional, as birthright citizenship is already set down in 14th Amendment.

But Trump rejects such opinions, and he previously said that this case can be even settled by the Supreme Court if only needed.

So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018

The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil war to ensure full citizenship rights for Black Americans. Since that time, it has been interpreted to grant citizenship to people born in the United States, regardless if their parents are Americans or live legally in the USA. Birthright citizenship law, also known as Jus soli, exists mostly in the Americas.

In most of Europe and the rest of the world, there are some modifications to this law, like a requirement to have at least one parent born in a country or being a permanent resident or both parents being stateless.